Post your latest brake job

[aba4430]

2021 Crosstrek Sport @38K miles. Replaced original pads/rotors.
Front: Rotors and pads.
Rear: Rotors; Pads Leftover new part from our previously owned 08 Outback Sport)
Brake Fluid. Flushed/bled brake fluid using a Motive pressure bleeder. Everything works well and braking performance is excellent. The front PS pads fit really tight into the caliper bracket. Will watch it over the next few weeks; may have to abrade the tabs a bit.

 

[nthach]

OE is super expensive (I have an '06). The selling dealership did OE front brake job, as part of the sale, and I got all the hardware returned in the Lexus boxes. I remember the service manager telling me there are some really pricey components you got, they were told to replace the caliper bolts by Lexus (this was Buick GMC) and the sensor wire was ridiculous. At the time I thought it was exaggeration since a OEM BMW sensor wire is $13, OE maybe $28, how expensive can a Lexus part possibly be (today $134.78)?

Since my car still has the Toyota OE front rotors (I need to swap them out), I really don't think they are worth it....usually $90+ online plus shipping. Centrics really do look the same--same x-hatching, only difference is Centrics are painted black, and Toyota painted gray. For me, no noise with Akebono ProActs on all 4, and Centric rotors in the rear. I plan on replacing the OE front rotors with Centrics which I already have.

Yea, my parent’s car had the brakes done by the JLR dealer before they bought it - I’m happy they used Advics pads, but the rotors seemed like Chineseium white box to me(or maybe Worldpac’s WBR or Napa’s “premium” line - I did see a Napa filter on the car when they bought it). I would have done a pad slap but saw the driver side tears were metal-on-metal, the passenger side was at 3mm - didn’t expose the wear sensor so I reused it.

I did notice the Akebono pads friction puck sits a bit proud above the edge of the Durago rotors - which I'm wondering if the rotors are a few hundreds of a mm below Toyota’s dimensions or the Akebonos are a little bigger than the OE Advics friction puck. Not a problem now but it might be down the road.

Their other car needs rear pads soon, I’m debating a pad slap with OE Lexus warranty(or the Toyota TCMC pads for the HiHy) or taking a gamble with Duralast Gold/Wearever Platinum or Duralast Elite(MAT India or Bosch Mexico). It’s a 2019 RXh that’s seen a life as a car used for Uber. Still in good shape but does need a front end rebuild soon(ball joints, shocks, bushings).

 

[John105]

Yea, my parent’s car had the brakes done by the JLR dealer before they bought it - I’m happy they used Advics pads, but the rotors seemed like Chineseium white box to me(or maybe Worldpac’s WBR or Napa’s “premium” line - I did see a Napa filter on the car when they bought it). I would have done a pad slap but saw the driver side tears were metal-on-metal, the passenger side was at 3mm - didn’t expose the wear sensor so I reused it.

I did notice the Akebono pads friction puck sits a bit proud above the edge of the Durago rotors - which I'm wondering if the rotors are a few hundreds of a mm below Toyota’s dimensions or the Akebonos are a little bigger than the OE Advics friction puck. Not a problem now but it might be down the road.

Their other car needs rear pads soon, I’m debating a pad slap with OE Lexus warranty(or the Toyota TCMC pads for the HiHy) or taking a gamble with Duralast Gold/Wearever Platinum or Duralast Elite(MAT India or Bosch Mexico). It’s a 2019 RXh that’s seen a life as a car used for Uber. Still in good shape but does need a front end rebuild soon(ball joints, shocks, bushings).

Interesting observation on the pads.....on my wife's Enclave, in the rear, I used Akebono ProActs, and AC Delco "Professional" not OE rotors. And they developed what I like to call a "stripe of shame." That's when a pad does not rub the rotors to the edges, and a rust lip develops. Used GM OE on the front with Akebonos and no rust lip at all. Wonder if OE rears (which I have for next time) would not do that?

The Lexus and many Japanese cars are terrible with this on the rear, but not the outer edge, the hat edge. Lots of unswept rotor and a huge rusted area on the rotor. btw the Centric's painted hats are rust free 6 years later. Not bad for then $27 lol

 

[ejes]

2003 Nissan Xterra SE belonging to my son. He bought it last year for basic transportation. Has 230k miles but it was cheap. Replaced all what appear to be original shocks, calipers, and rotors. He works at AutoZone part time while going to school on the GI bill, so he doesn't have much money, so he used his discount to buy Duralast shocks and calipers. The shocks were twin-tubes and by the looks of them are probably made by Monroe. The calipers are remans; don't know who's doing those. They all seem to be ok; way better than what we took off as you can imagine. The old shocks didn't move at all when compressed; but didn't have any oil leaking. Probably all leaked out some years ago. The calipers are two pot and one side had one pot completely seized. Both sides the boots were all torn. He couldn't really afford new pads and rotors (the rotors were out of spec), so I found some Bendix Fleet MetLok pads and rotors for $100 on Amazon. I've had real good luck with those in the past for what they cost. While doing that we found the front sway bar links were completely shot and replaced those with Duralasts too. Bled the brakes of some of the nastiest fluid I had ever seen and replaced with Mag1 DOT 3. All in all, everything came off and went on way easier than I thought it would. Took a few hours and about came to a total of about $450 after discounts and cores. Probably saved $800 in labor or maybe more around here. Took it out to bed the brake pads and it all made a world of difference. All in all, for a beater car, the Duralast stuff seems to be a good economy option for the basics at least. Not too shabby.

If anyone needs good all around brake pads and rotors, I'd highly recommend taking at least a look at the Bendix Fleet Metlok stuff. I've used them on several vehicles now over the years and have been highly impressed with them for the costs. Especially the rotors. They don't get mentioned a lot for some reason.

 

[Deamos]

Are others finding rear pads wear faster than fronts? Imho the reason I know is 2/3 cars were purchased new, and on 1 occasion with 2/3 cars, I did all 4 pads/rotors at the same time. So I could see next time around rears shot (1 to squealers) while fronts fine. Last piece of the puzzle is on the 335, reset the computer and front pads start at 2x the rears.

Prior to traction and stability, from what I observed over 20 years, front pads wear faster than rears (physics would seem to support that).

Mazda CX5 for sure, and IIRC, my Kia Sorento also.

Going back, my 2003 Jaguar X-Type was the first vehicle I experienced this with, rear brakes needed to be replaced at around 30k miles.

I just had the rears done on my CX5 at 40k miles; the front pads are still at 7-8mm.

 

[Deamos]

2020 Mazda CX5 Grand Touring
40k miles, 40k miles on old rear pads/rotors. They were worn down to 1-2mm; I guess I got my 'money's worth' from the factory set.

Off: Factory Mazda Pads/Rotors
On: Duralast Gold Pads (DG1846)/Mazda Rotors

A brake fluid flush was also performed as my CX5 is approaching four years old; maybe I'll have it done again in ~4 years.

The dealership did this work out of convenience on my part, pricing was effectively the same as everywhere else in the area I checked against.

After the job was complete, I discovered that the dealership used Duralast Gold pads instead of OE pads. Reading in different spots suggested that the Duralast pads are at least equal and may be an improvement over the OE Mazda pads. They feel good so far; I've put about ~100 miles on them. If they make less noise than the OEM pads did (even after going in for the TSB, the factory rears were squealing when cold), then I'll call them an improvement.

 

[supton]

I swear, I just did pads and rotors on the rear of our '03 CRV. Son came home, complaining of a squeak; quick walk-around revealed a RR hot brake. Not super hot, just hot. Busted it apart, out of pads. And caliper was pushing back in... but not great. Quick run to Advanced for a reman and pads, 2hr to do one corner (including the 40min drive and then a quick 5-10 test drive afterward). I did the LF caliper last summer, same conditions, so maybe calipers are only good for 10 years or something. Tempting to do the other corners but... kinda milking this one along.

 

[RyanY]

2012 Honda Odyssey
167k miles, 82k on the old pads
Off: Raybestos EHT
On: Wagner OEX Ceramic

Wagner coated rotors are about 8 mo old. The new pads fit perfectly - much better than the Raybestos which had to be filed down to fit in the bracket.

I recently did the job mentioned above and just want to follow up on the performance of Wagner OEX ceramics. The fit was perfect and they seemed to do well around town. However we just drove through the mountains and they are terrible! On long downgrades they pulsate and don't grab as well as the EHTs. They will come off as soon as I get a chance. The Raybestos fitment was bad (required filing) so I will likely go with semi-metallics. The Odyssey brakes are way less than what they should be for a car this size, so any additional stopping power is welcome.

 

[SHOZ]

My winter beater the Accent needs an alignment and new brakes up front before winter. Need to take an inventory of what parts I need. Front tires are wearing on the inside.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I recently did the job mentioned above and just want to follow up on the performance of Wagner OEX ceramics. The fit was perfect and they seemed to do well around town. However we just drove through the mountains and they are terrible! On long downgrades they pulsate and don't grab as well as the EHTs. They will come off as soon as I get a chance. The Raybestos fitment was bad (required filing) so I will likely go with semi-metallics. The Odyssey brakes are way less than what they should be for a car this size, so any additional stopping power is welcome.

I had the same pulsation shudder problem with the Raybestos Element 3 pads and rotors on a '15 Oddy EX-L.
@The Critic recommended Honda pads and Rockauto Dynamic Friction Geospec coated rotors.
This was 2 years ago; this van gets tons of use and frequently does mountain highway fast runs.

The brake combo has been perfect. Highly recommended. Good luck.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

Front and rear brake pads on daughters '08 CRV.

Wife and daughter said it is starting to pull to the right but no recollection of hitting any potholes etc. Daughter goes back to school on Sunday so I figured lets take a look just for anything obvious before having alignment checked since tires are wearing evenly. Fluid in reservoir was getting a little lower also. I did them 29k/3 years ago and she is not an aggressive driver. Good mix of longer highway and around town.

Caliper pistons went back in pretty easy so I don't think it's that. The RF inboard pad was jammed and had to be tapped pretty hard to get it free. It was wearing at a slight angle and would have hit the wear sensor VERY soon. I decided to check the rears also. They still had some life but since I was unbolting everything to re-grease, might as well change them.

Only thing in stock around between multiple stores (AZ, AAP, NAPA) was the Duralast Elite so that is what it got. The RR rotor has a slightly high ridge that should be cut or more likely replaced, maybe next time. The DL Elite have a "transfer material" that is supposed to help bedding them and filling something. What I can say is that until that transfers, unless it's the new pads on that ridge and some rusty edges, they sounded like I was full out metal/metal grind . I was seriously thinking maybe I messed something up. A couple nice easy stops followed by some 40mph > 5mph bit heavier and they got nice and quiet. I drove it on longer straight road and it wasn't pulling that I could tell.

The braking performance of the previous Raybestos Element 3 pads that were on it were good with not a lot of dusting, I have them on other vehicles also including my Accord. Some of the forums are saying they are starting to have issues with then also after some time. I'm not happy with the mileage from them. I have them on my Pilot also and those will be replaced this week. The fronts on the Pilot are almost gone also with only 25k on them. The rears still have plenty on that and everything is moving free. I already ordered some Power Stop Z23's for that earlier this week, we'll see how they do.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

I had a problem with the Raybestos Element 3 pads and rotors on a '15 Oddy EX-L.
@The Critic recommended Honda pads and Rockauto Dynamic Friction Geospec coated rotors.
This was 2 years ago; this van gets tons of use and frequently does mountain highway fast runs.

The brake combo has been perfect. Highly recommended. Good luck.

The Element 3 front pads on my Pilot are almost gone with only 25k on them. The rears still have a lot of life. IIRC the factory pads at 38K still had some life but time/weather/future plans all calculated as well as I was due for brake flush so did it all then. I think the rears were more worn at that time which I know many vehicles actually do so this is not even close.

Not too sure about Element 3's in future. Jury is out currently.

 

[D60]

'95 ZJ. Has a lift of some kind installed and sitting on 32's

His right front caliper was locking up so I reco'd new caliper and hose.

The previous lift "installer" had just tugged the hardline down and relocated the brake line with a tiny sheetmetal screw:

He began to kink the hardline right at the fitting, but fortunately this did not present problems when replacing the hose:

I drilled a proper locating hole for the hose "tab" and used a stitch (tapered) sheetmetal screw:

Right side installed:

Also, I spent way too much time debating if I wanted to pull the pre-installed caliper slider pins and grease with good AC Delco grease. In the end I'm sooooo glad I did because they were virtually dry. @dogememe advise all your customers buying calipers to push the pins out of the accordion boots and grease them!!

 

[jxthomps]

I recently did the job mentioned above and just want to follow up on the performance of Wagner OEX ceramics. The fit was perfect and they seemed to do well around town. However we just drove through the mountains and they are terrible! On long downgrades they pulsate and don't grab as well as the EHTs. They will come off as soon as I get a chance. The Raybestos fitment was bad (required filing) so I will likely go with semi-metallics. The Odyssey brakes are way less than what they should be for a car this size, so any additional stopping power is welcome.

I had a 2015 Odyssey. I put the OEX pads and Wagner rotors. I never liked the way they felt. Best I could describe it was it felt as if the car pushed through the brakes. Never any bite just felt slippery. I put duralast gold on after about 10k. Felt much better.

 

[RyanY]

I had a 2015 Odyssey. I put the OEX pads and Wagner rotors. I never liked the way they felt. Best I could describe it was it felt as if the car pushed through the brakes. Never any bite just felt slippery. I put duralast gold on after about 10k. Felt much better.

I think that is a great way to describe the feel...it pushes through the brakes! The Raybestos were much better bit didn't last a song as i had hoped. And fitment was terrible. Hopefully the semi metallic pads work better. If not I will go with the DL gold or NAPA Silentguard.

 

[FordSVTGuy]

Are others finding rear pads wear faster than fronts? Imho the reason I know is 2/3 cars were purchased new, and on 1 occasion with 2/3 cars, I did all 4 pads/rotors at the same time. So I could see next time around rears shot (1 to squealers) while fronts fine. Last piece of the puzzle is on the 335, reset the computer and front pads start at 2x the rears.

Prior to traction and stability, from what I observed over 20 years, front pads wear faster than rears (physics would seem to support that).

Yes, on all of the vehicles I own/maintain the back brakes have needed replacing before the fronts. I’ve noticed a lot more corrosion and rust buildup on the rears (especially the caliper bracket) and I wonder if that plays into it…

 

[Doc8404]

2020 Subaru Impreza Premium

Helped my nephew, RIT fourth year mechanical engineering student, learn as he did his first brake job.

All four corners. 4.4 hours.

Saved him $600-700 from the one quote he got.

Raybestos coated rotors and hybrid pads.

Did some anti corrosion treatment everywhere we could also.

 

[Daytona]

My next BJ is a $5 pad slap on an Audi

Yup, $5 for a set of Pagid pads to put on my friend's Q3

I specialize in cheap BJs. Amazon Warehouse has lots of deals, and knowing which brands are good, I can choose wisely. Sometimes it comes down to using two very similar rotors, at a giveway price, who cares? One recent front job was $140 name brand rotors and good pads. I have some $15 pads sitting here for the rear of one Mercedes. I'm not picky about rears, but if I have a wheels off, and decide to slap them on, I've got them here already. Anyway, the Detroit Axle kits and slotted rotors are a very good deal even at full price.

 

[Daytona]

It's a type of carbon fiber....

Usually I spray my calipers silver, and it looks great + normal. This is my wife's Beetle, it got EBC Green anyway. Detroit Axle rotors.

 

[BMW Dom]

I specialize in cheap BJs.